Improvement in table cutleey



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W'ALTER'HUBB-ARDQOF MERIDEN, CONNECTICUT.

i Letters Patent No. 63,795, dated April 16, 1867. I

IMPROVEMENT IN TABLE GUTLERY.

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T ALL WHOM IT MAY CONGERN:

Be it known that I, WALTER HUBBARD, of Meriden, in the county of NewHaven, and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulManufacture, and that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription thereof. My invention consists of a solid-handled cast-metalknife, or, 'in other words, of a knife-blade and handle cast in onepiece with each other, such an article being produced at a low cost withall the advantages incident to the absence of any joint between theblade andhandle, and'when plated being superior to ordinary plated`knives in the respect that there is no joint between the blade andhandle, and to solid-handled plated knife forged out of rolled metal,while it can be produced at a cost less than/that of either.

I construct my new articles by preference of cast iron, casting them insand moulds in the manner practised in making small cast-iron articles.After they are taken from the moulds they are cleaned of the'sand andpolished and sharpened by grinding them upon emery wheels. Then if thearticles are to be sold With the blades bare the handles may bevarnished or japanned by the usual process employed in japanning iron.If the articles are to be plated they are plated by preference withsilver by the electrotype process, or they may be plated'with tin eitherby the electrotype process or bythe ordinary process of tinning ironarticles by dipping them in a bath of melted tin. I do not deem itnecessary to describe in detail all the operations required insilver-plating and in tinning, as they need not vary from those in usefor plating other iron articles. Before the articles are' polished Iprefer to improve their strength by subjecting them to the process bywhich cast-iron articles are converted into what is called malleableiron by the elimination of their carbon; or, the blades may have asteely natdre imparted to them by any means competent to that end. Theform of the articles may be varied to suit the manufacturer, the twoforms represented in the accompanying drawing at figs. 1 and 2 beingexamples of such forms as I have made with success.

Having thus described the several modes in which I have contemplated theapplication of the principle or characteristic by which my inventionmaybe distinguished from others, I declare that I am aware that oysterknives have been forged out of steel so that the blade and handle areineone piece, and that `small silver and plated German-silver kniveshave been made in the same manner by the action of dies or by hammering.I, however, believe that I am the first to discover the fact that amerchantable solid-handled knife with the blade and handlerin one piececan be formed by casting the metal directly into form, the result ofwhich discovery is a great reduction in the cost of'manufacture and inthe price at which the finished article can be furnished to the public.j

I do not, therefore, claim broadly to be the inventor of a solid-handledknife, either plain or plated, but what I claim as.' my invention, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, isv i The solid-handledc'ast-metal-knife herein described, the same being a new article ofmanufacture.

In testimony whereof I have hereto set my hand this twenty-fourth day ofNovember, 1866.

WALTER HUBBARD.

Witnesses:

E. S. RENWIcK, F. W. WURSTER.

